Four PvP-Setups for a Corvette - what would you prefer?

[Starman 1966]

Haven't made my mind up yet - which loadout would be your favourite?

1) All long range fixed multicannons for getting an increased hit rate by means of the faster shot speed
2x huge incendiary
1x large autoloader
2x medium w/o effects
2x small corrosive (only one shooting at a time, the other one disabled)

2) Overcharged and high capacity fixed multicannons for maximised DPS
2x huge OC incendiary
1x large OC autoloader
2x medium OC w/o effects
1x small high capacity mag corrosive
1x small high capacity mag thermal shock

3) Mixed with some special effects I
2x huge plasma acc with plasma slug and premium ammo
3x packhounds with high capacity and overload munitions
2x small rail gun with long range and feedback cascade

4) Mixed with some special effects II
2x huge plasma acc with plasma slug and premium ammo
1x large gimballed frag cannon with double-shot and corrosive
2x medium gimballed frag cannons with double-shot and dazzle shell / drag munitions
2x small rail gun with long range and feedback cascade

Especially I'm not shure about the viability of frag cannons as a corvette normally cannot dictate the range of the fight and the convergence may be bit too poor despite of gimballed.

Thanks for voting and always fly safe!

 

[timbero]

Haven't made my mind up yet - which loadout would be your favourite?

1) All long range fixed multicannons for getting an increased hit rate by means of the faster shot speed
2x huge incendiary
1x large autoloader
2x medium w/o effects
2x small corrosive (only one shooting at a time, the other one disabled)

2) Overcharged and high capacity fixed multicannons for maximised DPS
2x huge OC incendiary
1x large OC autoloader
2x medium OC w/o effects
1x small high capacity mag corrosive
1x small high capacity mag thermal shock

3) Mixed with some special effects I
2x huge plasma acc with plasma slug and premium ammo
3x packhounds with high capacity and overload munitions
2x small rail gun with long range and feedback cascade

4) Mixed with some special effects II
2x huge plasma acc with plasma slug and premium ammo
1x large gimballed frag cannon with double-shot and corrosive
2x medium gimballed frag cannons with double-shot and dazzle shell / drag munitions
2x small rail gun with long range and feedback cascade

Especially I'm not shure about the viability of frag cannons as a corvette normally cannot dictate the range of the fight and the convergence may be bit too poor despite of gimballed.

Thanks for voting and always fly safe!

1) You will not be able to hit with all weapons at the same time, I suggest swapping the large and 2 medium to gimballed.

2) See above.

3) I probably like this one the best, but very power hungry and hot. Target lock breaker will wreck your Pack-Hound lock. If you mean long range on PAs, you will have distributor (maybe not with pack-hounds?) and heat issues. If you use efficient it will be nice vs big shield tanks, but you might get cross trying to hit smaller ships. Plasma slug... with premium ammo? Is that some sort of glitch? Try to get -%thermal load as a secondary on the high capacity Pack-Hounds, it's not that uncommon and it helps A LOT!

4) I'm unsure about this one, I'd imagine it will be nice dps if your enemy is kind and stays very close to you. But as the Corvette is one of the slowest ships in game, this weapon loadout doesn't complement it very well. Anyone that chooses to keep distance from you will lower your dps considerably, you will be more of a shotgun type ship.

 

[Threeofseven]

I don't own a vett but I saw a vett battle once where one had full rapid fire pulse lasers with phasing. He had the other vett's hull down to around 40% before ever dropping shields when the other vett high-waked. Just something to consider.

 

[AutoMechanical]

3/4 have some promise but I'd switch out the plasma slug (honestly horrible) for Target Lock brake and dispersal field.

I don't own a vett but I saw a vett battle once where one had full rapid fire pulse lasers with phasing. He had the other vett's hull down to around 40% before ever dropping shields when the other vett high-waked. Just something to consider.

As a full phasing vette user its only really useful against Fdl's.

 

[Morbad]

None of the above, really, though some aspects of each have merit. I'm also highly against abusing the permanent synthesis bug.

You have to assume that most credible opposition will be hitting you with target lock breaker nearly constantly, so if you can't land hits without a target lock, you will have issues. Also, if you want a PA setup, they will need to be focused or LR to have the velocity needed to hit small/medium ships even with a lock.

Incendiary is mostly crap. If you want MCs, get fixed long range huge autoloaders, and some medium turrets for your effects. Then put useful stuff in the smalls and large hardpoints, not just more MCs. Cascade rails and a focused lockbreaker PA of your own, for example.

 

[Starman 1966]

1) You will not be able to hit with all weapons at the same time, I suggest swapping the large and 2 medium to gimballed.

2) See above.

The convergence is really that bad? I would to skip gimballed because of chaff and target lock breaking effects.

3) I probably like this one the best, but very power hungry and hot. Target lock breaker will wreck your Pack-Hound lock. If you mean long range on PAs, you will have distributor (maybe not with pack-hounds?) and heat issues. If you use efficient it will be nice vs big shield tanks, but you might get cross trying to hit smaller ships. Plasma slug... with premium ammo? Is that some sort of glitch? Try to get -%thermal load as a secondary on the high capacity Pack-Hounds, it's not that uncommon and it helps A LOT!

Thanks for this hint. Just one question: If the rockets are already released and I'm hit by target lock breaking plasma, my rockets have become useless then?

4) I'm unsure about this one, I'd imagine it will be nice dps if your enemy is kind and stays very close to you. But as the Corvette is one of the slowest ships in game, this weapon loadout doesn't complement it very well. Anyone that chooses to keep distance from you will lower your dps considerably, you will be more of a shotgun type ship.

So my doubts about this have been right.

 

[Morbad]

The convergence is really that bad?

Against smaller ships, yes.

The huge and small hardpoints form a nice tight group, but the large is about 10m below that and the mediums are a good 15m off to each side.

If the rockets are already released and I'm hit by target lock breaking plasma, my rockets have become useless then?

No. However, every time you are hit by a lock breaker you need to retarget and spend time relocking, which is quite often more time than you'll have before the next shot.

 

[Starman 1966]

Regarding Morbad and the other contributors:

The plasmas are indeed G5 long range for increased shot speed. I choose plasma slug because of the high ammo costs. You can make up for this with premium ammo, but I don't know if this is still a bug as the infamous multicannon premium ammo bug has been gone for good some time ago.

And: is target lock breaking really that efficient against fixed weapons as well. I can reacquire target lock instantly by hitting the "g" key. And if target lock breaker is such a big deal, what would be the idea behind still using turrets?

I'm a bit confused, as you may notice. :S

 

[Crimson Kaim]

All four loaouts suck hard. Wouldn't use any of them.

 

[timbero]

The convergence is really that bad? I would to skip gimballed because of chaff and target lock breaking effects.

Well, you need something the size of a Type-9 showing its underside if you want to hit with all fixed weapons. Yes, gimballed are less damage than fixed (and susceptible to chaff). But you have to take accuracy into account when considering your DPS, and as Morbad said turrets are also an option.

Turrets can be set to fire at will, ignoring target lock breaker. They are a good option to have your debuffs on, constantly harassing your enemy. And you can use whatever mod you prefer on them: efficient, long range, overcharged, high capacity, rapid fire.

A tip if you are using munition turrets and the fire setting 'target only', use 2 firegroups - one with turrets and one without. If they're chaffing, switch to the firegroup without the turrets and the turrets will stop shooting (conserving ammo).

Thanks for this hint. Just one question: If the rockets are already released and I'm hit by target lock breaking plasma, my rockets have become useless then?

I believe they will keep tracking, but it takes something like 10 seconds to re acquire lock. 10 seconds is an eternity if someone is shooting at you with target lock breaker.

 

[Starman 1966]

All four loaouts suck hard. Wouldn't use any of them.

You are very welcome to enlighten me, Sir. Or do I feed a troll here?

 

[rrobes]

Have you owned the Corvette for a while, and have tested your load-outs?

The Corvette has been my main ship for a long time and I started out w/ an all MC load-out. I got the HICAP mag option on all of the weapons, G5 w/ asst. mods. It made going against NPC's easy and did OK in PvP wings on occasion. All weapons were turreted or gimballed.

Then tried a combo of gimballed/fixed for the 4C MC HICAP, pulse lasers for the 3 and the two 1's and MC turrests for the 2's. This also worked well against NPC's.

Tried a few other combos but I've settled for the current one.

Two gimballed 4C MC HICAP,
Two turreted 2F MC HICAP,
One 3B PA,
Two 1D Rails.

The mods can vary on personal desires, but G5's should be your goal unless you get lucky w/ a lower grade w/ a great roll.

I found that the 1 MC's were too weak to be effective and that the 1 Rails punch above their weight. The 3B PA complements the Rails and since they are fixed can be fired through chaff at closer ranges w/ a decent hit chance.

The gimbals and turrets help the slower turn rate of the Corvette against small ships and they chew through shields and armor at an effective rate. The HICAP option on the MC's give you continuous fire on target and allows a long loiter time at the objective.

The Corvette is very heat tolerant, the only time heat becomes an issue is when the Rails are reloading and you keep you finger on the trigger while they are doing so. The Rails and the PA are on the secondary trigger, the rest primary.

This last build is deadly on the big ships and effective against the smalls and even fighters. I'll keep this one for the foreseeable future.

If you fly Solo, really any build is going to kill whatever NPC's you run into, 3 Elite Anacondas are no match for a proper Corvette flown w/ a bit of skill. However, if you fly Open, you have to be ready for a different sort of encounter. If you get caught by a wing in a single Corvette, you're toast, but 1v1, my last has a chance at survival. All has to be complemented w/ good shields to fight and good armor to help you escape when things go south.

Good luck.

 

[rrobes]

All four loaouts suck hard. Wouldn't use any of them.

Insightful and informative, I wish all posts would be as helpful as this one.

 

[Jon flint]

I don't own a vett but I saw a vett battle once where one had full rapid fire pulse lasers with phasing. He had the other vett's hull down to around 40% before ever dropping shields when the other vett high-waked. Just something to consider.

I tried that loadout once, it's quite good fun, simply because many of the targets didn't realise they were loosing hull before it was too late. Quite power hungry and quite hot running though.

As for the viability of the posted builds, honestly, I don't know. I tend to go with what I find fun, so for me it's always multicannons, multicannons, multicannons!

 

[Starman 1966]

Have you owned the Corvette for a while, and have tested your load-outs?

Oh yes, the Vette has been my main ship for a long time as well and she still is. NPC's are a no-brainer, whatever loadout is used. Shields and hull are all G5 engineered with both resistances and heavy duty. Three Elite NPC Anacondas in a wing don't bring my shields down.

Your loadout is pretty interesting. Do you use any specialties on your multis (incendiary or corrosive or autoloader) or is it plain dakka-dakka?

Btw: In Open resp. PvP you have probabely little chances vs a wing whatever ship you are flying IMHO. It's the armour and the 5D module protections that keep you alive until wake-out after your shields are gone.

 

[rrobes]

"Your loadout is pretty interesting. Do you use any specialties on your multis (incendiary or corrosive or autoloader) or is it plain dakka-dakka"?

The two 4C's are incendiary/thermal, one of the 2F's is corrosive to gain that advantage, the other incendiary. I like to put heat into the target. Like I stated, the MC's are all High Capacity mags, the corrosive option cuts down on total capacity to 3200 rds+/-, but the rest have 4000 rd+/- capacities.

The PA and Rails are mixed as to effects to try to complement the load-out.

 

[Starman 1966]

Well then, as I have most such weapons (but overcharged instead of highcap) stored or fitted, I'll give it a try. Just need one more small railgun with feedback cascade.

 

[duckofdeath]

I can't see Plasma Slug being a good choice for PvP. It's an "infinite ammo" mod with the penalty of lower damage. Something more suited for a CZ or RES, I think?
(edit) I mean, you're compensating the big loss of damage with the extremely "expensive" premium synthesis. Which makes the "infinite" pew pew limited by your willpower to collect Technetium.

 

[Starman 1966]

Nope. Plasma slugs only need one premium reload which will never go away - as long as you don't trigger a "refill all" but use "advanced maintenance" only.

 

[duckofdeath]

Oh wait, ignore this. I'm lacking coffee, I think.